BEND, OR -- Bend-La Pine Schools will host a groundbreaking ceremony Monday afternoon, for its newest elementary school. Julianne Repman says everyone is invited, because the community made the project possible, "Voters overwhelmingly supported the investment into these new schools. So, here in Central Oregon - in the Bend-La Pine and Sunriver communities, we'll be delivering 150 projects and two new schools." She tells KBND News, "This is the elementary school that will be coming online; and in the fall of 2021, we'll also have a high school coming online."

Repman says the goal is to have the new elementary school open by fall of 2019, "It's very exciting to be breaking ground on Bend's newest elementary school. It'll be number 19 for Bend-La Pine Schools! It's going to be a pretty incredible design: it's a 70,000 sq ft energy efficient facility, and it'll have 24 classrooms, and all sorts of great learning environments for our students." She adds, "We've been growing for decades here. Our school enrollment continues to increase, and having this school coming online allows us to better balance enrollment among our elementary schools in Bend. More than half of those schools are already near or over capacity, so this is really something that we've been waiting for, and the time is right to get this school opened in the fall of 2019."

Monday's ceremonial groundbreaking begins at 1 p.m. at the corner of O.B. Riley Road and Cooley. The celebration includes musical entertainment by students; former students, graduates, and local dignitaries are also expected to attend.